


Emergency meeting

by Startanewdream



Series: Jily Lives AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drabble, F/M, Family, Gen, James Potter & Lily Evans Potter Live, James Potter is a good parent, Potter Family-centric (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28862163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Startanewdream/pseuds/Startanewdream
Summary: When Harry has an emergency more difficult than facing a dragon during the Triwizard Tournament, only his father can help him.
Relationships: Harry Potter & James Potter, Harry Potter & Potter Family, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Series: Jily Lives AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116542
Comments: 14
Kudos: 103





	Emergency meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Set after ['Eyes glistening (with the ghost of my past)'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28831710), but it can be read alone.

Harry’s call comes in the middle of a Friday afternoon, just as James is finishing dinner - Lily will be home in about fifteen minutes and he likes to let everything ready for when she comes back from work.

‘Dad? Are you there?’

It’s very unusual for Harry to call him on the mirror, so for an instant, James thinks Harry is there somehow - his eyes go immediately to the fireplace -, until he locates the origin on the mirror he left on the kitchen counter, waiting for a message from Sirius.

‘Harry?’, he asks surprised, when he sees his son’s face in the mirror. Harry looks slightly sick. ‘Is everything ok?’

‘Yeah, yeah. All the same. I just need to talk to you’.

‘Go on’.

‘Not through the mirror’, says Harry, still looking more uneasy than when he had to tell his parents about going after the Philosopher’s Stone. Or entering the Chamber of Secrets. Or meeting Peter Pettigrew. ‘Can - I know I’m not supposed to - but could we meet in Hogsmeade tomorrow?’

James glances at the calendar.

‘There is not a trip scheduled for tomorrow’.

‘I know, that’s why I said I wasn’t supposed to, but I thought -’, Harry hesitates, biting his lips, and James thinks he looks even younger than he is. ‘- If I use the Cloak and the Map no one would know, and I know it’s for emergencies only, but this is one of them’.

‘If it’s Voldemort -’

‘No, no, it’s another kind of emergency. _Please_ , dad. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so important’’.

James looks carefully at his son. Harry is sweating; the boy didn’t even flinch before facing a dragon months ago and, somehow, he looks more nervous now than he was on the First Task. He does not know what kind of emergency Harry is talking about if it doesn’t involve Voldemort, but he would not refuse his son anyway.

‘Ok’, he agrees, and he sees relief in Harry’s face. ‘Why don’t we meet for lunch in the Three Broomsticks? Rosmerta is an old friend, she won’t say anything, and your mother and I can -’

‘No’, Harry panics again. ‘Not Mom. Just you’.

That makes James frown. Harry may look like him, but his heart has always been more like Lily’s and he always confided in his mother. Even when he came to ask for James’ help for anything or share one of his misdeeds, Harry always knew his father would eventually share it with his mother later.

There are many questions James wants to ask, but right now he just nods one last time.

‘Midday, the Three Broomsticks’, is all he says and, with a grateful smile, Harry is gone.

* * *

Harry is already in the dinner room James had reserved when James arrives. He looks at his watch. Harry is five minutes early; his son is _never_ early for anything, not even to go to Hogwarts on September 1st or Quidditch matches.

This must be really important.

Still, James takes a moment to watch Harry, who is pacing nervously. He didn’t change much from the last time they’ve seen each other - when he hugged Harry after his victory over the dragon, with a proud grin that didn’t show how James nearly had a heart attack before - but James always likes to see how grown up Harry is, marvelling at the fact that his son is _alive_ and well.

‘Dad!’, Harry cries when he sees him, looking reassured that James is there. ‘You took long’.

‘I’m on time, actually’, James says, amused. ‘Now, can you tell me what got your knickers on a twist?’

Somehow the fact that James is there seems to have a soberer effect on Harry. He stops pacing, sitting at the small table, biting his lips with more hesitation than James had ever seen on him.

‘Maybe - maybe we can share a butterbeer first’.

‘Harry’, James begins, feeling confused. ‘We can drink all the butterbeer you want, but you just didn’t summon here for a drink -’

‘I need your help asking a girl for the Yule Ball’.

The words come out of Harry’s mouth so fast that James takes a moment to understand their meaning. When he does, amusement threatens to overwhelm him and James almost chuckles, now seeing what is Harry’s great emergency.

But he presses his lips, avoiding even a smile because it’s obvious how desperate Harry is, how he needs James’ guidance in a way he didn’t seem to need when he was facing parts of Voldemort or a basilisk or flying over a dragon.

Harry needs his _father_.

‘Oh’, he says at least. ‘That requires a butterbeer’.

And a firewhiskey for him would be nice, but he doesn’t want to settle a bad example.

So he orders butterbeers and a small lunch for them. He waits until Harry is drinking his butterbeer, once again marvelling at how his son is old now if he is worried about dates, before he asks in the most nonchalant voice he can manage:

‘So, who do you want to invite?’

‘Well - there is this girl - she is really pretty, she is one year ahead of me and she plays Seeker for the Ravenclaw team, so…’

Harry stops talking and James realizes this is it, actually. There is nothing more for him to tell because his son is just infatuated for the first time in his life. 

He wants to tell Harry that there is more than just a pretty face and a shared interest in Quidditch, but Harry is fourteen and James remembers what it was like then. Even his feelings for LIly had been shallow then - love, the real feeling that had twice saved Harry’s life, had come later.

‘So you want to ask her to the ball. Does she have a date yet?’

‘I - I don’t know. I’ve never seen her with anyone though’.

‘That’s okay. If she already has one, she will just tell you. But if you want to invite her, don’t take too long. Girls don’t like to think they are your last resort - actually, no one likes it’.

‘But _how_ -’, Harry takes another gulp of his drink. ‘I can’t just get there when she has all her friends around her - she is _always_ with her friends, really, it’s _maddening_ \- and I can’t just ask… How did you ask Mom out?’

Now it’s James that is taking a long gulp from his butterbeer, wishing he had an easier answer to that. All Harry knows is that he and Lily had fallen in love during school and they had married just after graduation; they had never detailed the complicated years that had come before.

‘Well -’, he begins, still unsure of how to answer that. ‘ - actually, the first two times I asked your Mom out, she refused to go out with me’.

Harry blinks, surprised.

‘Why? I thought you two were in love since forever’.

‘It does feel like forever, but that’s not true’, James shrugs. ‘It’s not always easy as a fairytale. It takes time’.

‘But if she didn’t want to go out with you -’.

‘Well, since you are _here_ , it’s obvious she wanted to go out with me at _some point_ ’, James says, grinning to ease Harry’s sudden nervousness as if he is unable to imagine a world in which his parents weren’t always together. ‘I was just a bit of a toss when I was young - actually, when I was your age - and your mom had better things to do than lose time with this idiot then. She was smart, of course, but that is beside the point. Let’s talk about the time she accepted at least’.

There is a smile now on James’ lips, the same one that he always has when he is thinking of Lily, that Harry immediately recognizes.

‘Skip the kissing parts, ok?’, he pleads, rolling his eyes.

‘That’s the best part’, James jokes. ‘But that happened later, anyway. So I asked her out for a date. Even though she had refused before, many things had happened since then and we had been friends for a while, but I wanted more. Always did, but then I was lucky and she wanted more too’.

‘That easy? You just _asked_?’

‘There is no other way, Harry’. He smiles at his son. ‘You are going to take a leap of faith in this, really. If she is never alone, and you don’t want to ask her in front of her friends, ask for a word with her. Her friends may giggle, but it’s perfectly, annoyingly _normal_ , I promise you’.

‘And if she says no?’

‘Life goes on. You respect her decision and you ask someone else for the ball’. Harry looks nervous at this prospect too. ‘You can ask someone to go as a friend, you know. It doesn’t have to mean anything’.

‘Okay’, Harry says, looking more relieved.

‘How about Hermione?’

‘Hermione?’, Harry repeats, as if what James is saying is beyond his comprehension. ‘But she is just my friend’.

‘Yes, Harry’, James says patiently. ‘That was the point, remember?’

Harry is still frowning.

‘Yeah, but it would be weird, like going with a sister’.

‘Someone else, then. Maybe a friend that isn’t so much like a sister to you’.

Harry nods thoughtfully, and in his silence, James suddenly remembers Ron's little sister. She is the most charmingly young girl he has ever met - though his opinion may be affected by the fact she also shares his love for chasing -, but she is extremely shy whenever Harry is around. If maybe they could have a date and get to know each other better -

‘And what if she says yes?’, Harry asks suddenly, in a heavy whisper that distracts James.

James blinks, looking puzzled at his son.

‘Then you go together. Isn’t that what you want?’

‘Yes’, Harry says, but he doesn’t seem very convincingly as if the aspect of someone accepting his invitation is even scarier than asking her out to begin with.

 _Oh, Merlin_ , if he is concerned about what to do with a date, they are going to have that talk again. He thought he had covered enough last year, but maybe Harry wasn’t really paying attention - sex would definitely seem to alien for a thirteen year old boy... _Oh, Merlin,_ Harry is _too young_ for things like that -

‘But it’s a dance’, Harry adds, and James breaths again.

God bless his son, he is worried about the dancing, not snogging.

‘It’s easy, actually’, James says, and he instantly winces. Nothing seems easy when you are fourteen. ‘I mean, if it’s formal, just revolve around on the same spot - like one step to one side, then another, careful not to step on her foot and you’ll be fine’.

‘You and Mom never dance like that’.

‘We prefer rock, yeah, but I watched my old folks dancing together more times than I can count. Really, Harry, is all about the feeling’.

Harry grimaces, and James realizes the only feeling Harry would probably feel is panic.

‘You like this girl, right?’

‘Yeah, I think so’. He flushes. ‘She makes me nervous’.

‘Nervous’, James repeats slowly.

‘As if I was walking down a stair and suddenly I missed a step, you know, that feeling inside...’

‘I see’.

Harry looks nervously at him.

‘Is that all right? I mean, is that how you feel about Mom?’

‘My feelings for Lily are a bit more complex than that, Harry’, he says gently. ‘But yes, sometimes when we’ve been apart for a while or even when I wake up by her side sometimes, it’s like I’m seeing her for the first time and I feel this - I think a poet would call it butterflies, but for us maybe little Golden Snitches flying in the belly would be more appropriate. And I can’t believe I got so lucky’.

He loses himself in his thoughts, thinking of Lily. They’ve been married for over sixteen years and she still makes his heart beats fast as she did the first time they’ve kissed.

‘Did you always love her?’, Harry asks in a whisper, for once not sounding grossed at the idea of his parents together like a couple.

James looks at him, wishing once more there was an easy answer. Having the talk seems easier than this - Harry knows love as this entity that’s always been part of his life, as a talisman that has protected him more than once, but explaining romantic love to a teenager is something else.

‘I don’t know when I started loving Lily’, he says slowly. ‘There isn’t a day that I can point to as the day it all began, just as I can’t tell you one single reason for why I love her. Love is in the little things, in the little moments, and it grows without you even noticing it sometimes. When I finally realized I was in love with her, it seemed I was already feeling like that since always’.

‘So you didn’t fall in love at first sight? You two just dated before -’

‘I fancied your mother a lot, obviously, but love came as we got to know each other, as we grew closer. It’s not always fast like in those soap operas you and Sirius like to watch. And -’, James hesitates a little, but he supposes there are some things Harry needs to understand. ‘- we’ve both dated other people before we got together. So, if you like this girl, get to know her, even date her, yes, but it’s ok if it doesn’t last’.

Harry is still looking at James as if it’s unfathomable to him the idea of either his parents with other people, but he nods quietly. It’s not like Harry isn’t familiar about Sirius’ history of girlfriends to know that not all relationships have to end in marriage, but Harry grew up as the son of a couple whose love became famous for overcoming death. He obviously has some expectations about his own lovelife.

As always happens, this is another battle James can’t fight for his son. He will have to deal with dates and relationships and heartbreaks on his own, and all James can offer is chocolate (as Remus would recommend) and lend his ears for any sorrow or happiness Harry wants to share with him.

Still, that’s one of the most normal battles Harry has ever faced, and James is grateful for that; his son already lost too much time worrying about war and Voldemort and surviving.

There is a knock on the door and James raises to get the burgers, giving Harry some more time with his thoughts.

‘Thanks, dad’, Harry says at least, when they are left alone.

‘No problem. That’s what dads are for’, he answers teasingly, exchanging a grin with Harry. ‘Speaking of problems, though, how is it going with the egg?’

Harry rolls his eyes. It’s obvious that’s not a concern for him.

‘I still have time’, he says distractedly. ‘Now, what’s this story of you and mom dating other people…?’

* * *

The call comes again three days later.

‘Dad?’

James closes the Transfiguration book in front of him and takes the mirror. Harry doesn’t seem very thrilled, but he is smiling at his father anyway.

‘Hi, son. So, how it went?’

‘Well, as good as I expected. Made myself kind of a fool, blushed a lot, strumbled a little, but I asked her’.

Harry is not beaming as James would expect, so he winces.

‘Didn’t go well then?’

‘She said someone else already asked her. So you were right, I should have asked sooner. But… well, I think she looked sorry, so that’s good, right?’

‘Yes, yes. Maybe another time you can ask her out’.

Harry’s smile is a little more natural now.

‘Well, in any case I have a date. I asked Parvati - she’s from my year, so it’s more as a friend, like you said’.

‘Good, I’m happy for you. Be a good dancing partner to your date, ok?’

‘Yeah, about that, I’ve been thinking - this also _definitely_ qualifies as an _emergency_ \- could you ask mom to meet me at Hogsmeade next Saturday? I thought she could give me some dancing classes’. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please let a review with your thoughts!
> 
> Also, Jily Lives AU is my new addiction, so if you have any idea of other scenes, please share with me here or at [Tumblr](https://startanewdream.tumblr.com/).


End file.
